Compiled by Lauri Johnson
SPONSORS MAKE SUMMERTIME FUN AND FREE
DOWNTOWN
Fair Saint Louis/Celebrate St. Louis…LIVE on the Levee, St.
Louis’s free summer festival under the Arch, kicks off July
3rd and 4th and continues for five weeks in July and August.
Headliners at Fair Saint Louis include popular pop band the
Goo Goo Dolls, ‘80s rocker Cyndi Lauper and teen act Everlife.
LIVE on the Levee acts include Emmylou Harris, Musiq Soulchild,
Bruce Hornsby, and more throughout the summer on the Budweiser
Main Stage. In addition to music, each night offers free entertainment
in the AmerenUE/Schnucks Family Fun Village and the U.S. Bank/Enterprise
Rent-A-Car fireworks display.
Fair Saint Louis, America’s Biggest Birthday Party, merged with
Celebrate St. Louis…LIVE on the Levee last summer to create
a summer-long festival that encourages people to enjoy downtown
St. Louis, revitalized with over $3 billion in investment.
“Fair Saint Louis and LIVE on the Levee bring St. Louis locals
and visitors alike twelve nights of free, high quality entertainment
under the Arch,” says John Stupp, chairman of the Fair Saint
Louis Foundation which hosts the event. “There’s nothing like
this anywhere else in the country.”
Platinum-level sponsors this year include Anheuser-Busch, Boeing,
Edward Jones, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Lumiere Place, Maritz,
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, and U.S. Bank.
For more information about Fair Saint Louis…LIVE on the Levee,
including a complete list of entertainment and sponsors, visit
www.celebratestlouis.org.
ROSE INTERNATIONAL CHOSEN BY ILLINOIS
Information technology firm Rose International has won a $36.6
million contract from the state of Illinois’ Department of Children
and Family Services (DCFS) to provide staff augmentation and
help desk support.
“We are honored to work with DCFS on this project,” states Himanshu
(Sue) Bhatia, Rose International’s CEO. “The State of Illinois
has given us another opportunity to grow our partnership with
them, and we look forward to continuing this relationship.”
Specifically, Rose will support the department’s ongoing operations,
maintenance, production support and information technology initiative
developments conducted across three operating system platforms.
The contract will span the next seven years and includes two
one-year renewal options.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ST. LOUIS DONATION
PAVES THE WAY FOR ST. PATRICK CENTER EXPANSION
A $450,000 grant from the Catholic Charities of St. Louis topped
off the funding needed by St. Patrick Center to expand its facility
with a new small business incubator and trades training center.
Located at 800 North Tucker Blvd. in St. Louis, St. Patrick
Center provides programs that help homeless people become independent.
“We are very excited to begin this innovative, new project,”
states Dan Buck, CEO of St. Patrick Center. “This aggressive
endeavor will empower thousands of low-income and homeless clients.
It will be a catalyst for finding meaningful employment. We
believe it will have a multi-million dollar impact on the St.
Louis economy in the years ahead.”
The Catholic Charities donation will allow the center to start
construction on the incubator and training center on the agency’s
fourth and fifth floors. When construction is finished in 2008,
the fourth floor will be designated for Project BEGIN (Businesses,
Employment, Growth, Incomes & Neighborhoods), a progressive
program designed to combat homelessness through a small business
incubator and trades training center in partnership with Ranken
Technical College. The fifth floor will consist of administrative
offices and community meeting rooms, including a 256-seat auditorium.
NEW RESEARCH SAYS PARENTS AS TEACHERS
PROGRAM IMPROVES SCHOOL READINESS FOR CHILDREN
New research has revealed that Parents as Teachers’ programs
have a positive impact on children’s school readiness and can
improve how those children perform through the third grade.
The findings were presented at the national Parents as Teachers
2007 Conference in St. Louis by Edward Zigler, Sterling Professor
of Psychology, emeritus, at Yale University and a member of
the Parents as Teachers National Center’s board of directors.
RCGA’s Senior Vice President-Public Policy Chip Casteel is also
a PAT board member.
The study assessed the school readiness and academic achievement
of more than 7,000 Missouri children over a five-year time period.
The study showed that more children living in poverty who participated
in Parents as Teachers a minimum of two years and spent one
year in preschool (82 percent) entered kindergarten ready to
learn than did those who had no involvement in either service
(64 percent). The same difference in kindergarten readiness
was also evident for non-poverty children (93 percent versus
81 percent).
The study also evaluated the impact of Parents as Teachers on
third graders’ test scores on the Missouri Achievement Program
communication arts test. A higher percentage of children who
participated in Parents as Teachers and/or preschool reached
a benchmark level of performance on the test than did those
who had no involvement in either service.
Parent surveys showed that parents who participated in Parents
as Teachers were more likely to engage in literacy activities
with children at home and were more likely to enroll children
in preschool.
RIDEFINDERS WELCOMES ITS 1,000TH EMPLOYER
Local ride-sharing program RideFinders has welcomed Centerre
Healthcare as its 1,000th participating employer. Centerre Healthcare’s
participation marks a significant milestone in the program’s
13-year history and also demonstrates the tremendous employer
interest in RideFinders created by the Interstate-64 reconstruction
project.
“RideFinders has seen a dramatic increase in employer participation
as a result of the upcoming I-64 project, with nearly 150 employers
joining the program so far in 2007,” states Joe Wright, director
of RideFinders. “By participating in RideFinders at no cost,
employers such as Centerre Healthcare can offer their employees
a free commuting solution throughout the project.”
Located in the heart of downtown Clayton, Centerre Healthcare
is one of the many employers that will be directly affected
by the upcoming construction.
Created in 1994, RideFinders provides a free ride-matching service
to help commuters share rides to work in carpools using their
personal vehicles or in vanpools using vans provided by RideFinders.
LACLEDE GAS RECEIVES 2007 SOUTHERN GAS
ASSOCIATION MARKETING AWARD
Laclede Gas has been awarded the 2007 Southern Gas Association
Marketing Award for its work with St. Louis’ Green Building
Initiative. Laclede Gas was the only winner selected this year.
The Green Building Initiative is a voluntary program designed
for home builders interested in incorporating environmentally-friendly
building concepts into their projects.
Laclede Gas was recognized for partnering with the Home Builders
Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri to develop and
implement a comprehensive home verification program for the
local Green Building Initiative. Laclede’s inspectors verify
and score homes according to Model Green Home Building Guidelines
that cover six primary sections ranging from building lot preparation
to homeowner education.
The St. Louis Green Building Initiative, created to bring green
building into the mainstream marketplace, provides builders
and consumers with information on green building approaches
that are practical and affordable.
EMERSON DONATES $250,000 TO TOWER GROVE
PARK
Global technology and engineering firm Emerson has announced
that it is donating $250,000 to fund a complete renovation of
the historic water lily ponds at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis.
Located in front of the park’s Piper Palm House, the three lily
ponds were originally constructed in the late 1800’s. The renovation
will include stonework and tuckpointing, drainage upgrades and
new lighting for evening events. Construction will begin after
the park’s gala fundraiser on Oct. 6.
Tower Grove Park is the second-largest park in the city of St.
Louis with 289 acres, more than 8,000 trees and shrubs, and
more than one million visitors annually. The park was authorized
by state law in 1867 and established in 1868 with a land donation
by Henry Shaw, the founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
It is one of only a handful of urban parks in the United States
designated as National Historic Landmarks.
AGC OF ST. LOUIS NAMED CHAPTER OF THE
YEAR
For the second time in seven years, the Associated General Contractors
of St. Louis has been named Chapter of the Year by AGC of America
for its outstanding achievements in management, recruitment
and member services. AGC of St. Louis leaders accepted the award
at the organization’s annual convention in San Antonio. The
St. Louis chapter was selected from more than 50 chapters in
the large chapter division.
“We’re extremely proud to have earned this award again in such
a short period of time,” states Len Toenjes, president of AGC
of St. Louis. “Our members care deeply about building a better
quality of life in St. Louis and improving opportunities for
the next generation of St. Louis construction professionals.
This award proves, once again, that we’re on the right track.”
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the largest
and oldest national construction trade association in the United
States and represents more than 32,000 firms.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY ANNOUNCES NEW
CHAIRWOMAN FOR 2007 GALA
The American Cancer Society has announced that Vicki Woodside,
business development director at CI Select Flooring Solutions,
has agreed to serve as the American Cancer Society Gala For
Hope Chair in 2007. Woodside joins a committee of volunteers
in hosting one of St. Louis’ premier charity events on Saturday,
Aug. 18, 2007, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton.
“Vicki has been a valuable volunteer for the American Cancer
Society for several year,” states Martha Borges, community manager
of development for the American Cancer Society. “She brings
a wealth of knowledge of the programs and services of the American
Cancer Society to the planning committee, as well as enthusiasm
to reach out to the community.”
The American Cancer Society Gala For Hope enables the local
office of the American Cancer Society to provide patient services,
research, education and government advocacy to those afflicted
with cancer and their loved ones. Tickets for the event are
$150 per individual or $1,200 for a table of eight. For more
information about the gala, contact Martha Borges at (314) 286-8157
or at martha.borges@cancer.org.
UNITED WAY TO DISTRIBUTE MORE THAN $56
MILLION LOCALLY IN 2007
United Way has announced that a total of $56,701,672 will be
invested in the St. Louis region in 2007. Of that, $50,700,814
will be distributed throughout St. Louis and 15 surrounding
communities to its 187 member agencies. The remaining $6,000,858
will be invested to strengthen health and human services in
17 Missouri and Illinois counties through one-time grants, initiatives
and programs.
“Due to the incredible generosity of this community in support
of the annual United Way campaign, I am pleased to announce
that more than one million dollars will be carefully distributed
into this region by United Way and its volunteers each week
in 2007,” states David Steward, founder and chairman of World
Wide Technology Inc. and 2007 United Way board chairman.
LORI BECKLENBERG JOINS ST. LOUIS RCGA
AS DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS RECRUITMENT
St. Louis RCGA is proud to announce that Lori Becklenberg has
joined the economic development team. Becklenberg brings nearly
ten years of economic development experience to her new position
as director of business recruitment. Most recently, Becklenberg
held the position of Senior Project Manager with the Missouri
Department of Economic Development.
Becklenberg’s responsibilities at the Department of Economic
Development included: serving as lead for the St. Louis team;
automotive industry specialist; conducting site visits; preparing
and presenting marketing proposals and presentations; preparing
site location analyses and structuring and negotiating economic
incentives packages.
Becklenberg has been an active participant in several St. Louis
RCGA marketing trips and initiatives.
Becklenberg earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
from William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. and has recently
completed coursework at the Economic Development Institute.
As director of business recruitment at the RCGA, Becklenberg
will manage business recruitment and expansion projects, execute
marketing trips, tradeshows and special events, develop and
qualify recruitment leads and implement marketing initiatives
on behalf of the entire bi-state region.
GARDEN’S NEW NATURE CLASSROOM STRESSES
LEARNING THROUGH PLAY
An innovative new area at the Missouri Botanical Garden connects
children to the outdoors through the use of natural materials
in creative, unstructured play. In May, the Garden became the
first botanical garden and the second institution in the country
to establish a certified Nature Explore Classroom.
The “classroom” is a unique outdoor area located on the south
side of the two-acre Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden: A Missouri
Adventure. Designed for children ages three through eight, the
nature area is divided by walls of native plants into sections
devoted to nature art, music, creative materials, building materials
and opportunities for unstructured play. Kids can build with
blocks and tree cookies (cross-segments of a tree trunk), create
music with rain sticks and other natural instruments, climb
log steps and crawl through a log, dance with colorful scarves,
or make art from plant material, stones and seed pods.
Nature Explore Classrooms were conceived by The National Arbor
Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation
as a direct response to “nature deficit disorder,” defined as
a growing lack of engagement and interaction between children
and nature. Seven years of field testing by Dimensions has shown
that outdoor learning and recreation benefit children not only
educationally, but also behaviorally and developmentally.
WORLD AGRICULTURAL CONGRESS POSITION
BIOBELT ON WORLD STAGE
The World Agricultural Forum’s three-day, invitation-only World
Agricultural Congress was a very timely opportunity to showcase
St. Louis’ emerging role in biofuels and alternate energy to
a gathering of some 400 agricultural industry leaders from throughout
the world; this was the largest World Agricultural Congress
since the inaugural Congress was presented back in 1999. More
than 50 speakers and presenters from around the world participated
in this event, a sampling of whom included: U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture Michael Johanns; Marian Fischer Boel, Commissioner
for Agriculture, European Union; Carl Hausmann, president and
CEO, Bunge North America Inc.; and John Deere Corp. President
Bob Lane.
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center President Dr. Roger Beachy
and RCGA’s President and CEO Dick Fleming did a joint luncheon
presentation on the St. Louis BioBelt region’s biofuels and
alternate energy initiatives, including the recently announced
Center for Evergreen Energy, or CE2.
Since the completion of the Battelle Strategy back in 2000,
the St. Louis region continues to emerge as a national and international
player in the plant and life sciences. The St. Louis BioBelt
is already home to over 400 plant and life sciences enterprises,
collectively employing some 15,220 employees, and generating
a regional annual economic impact of $10.5 billion.
GROWING THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
For some emerging entrepreneurs, a new contact at a big company
can mean more than just a big sale prospect. Strategic relationships
with an established company can mean a new channel for distribution,
an enhanced Scientific Advisory Board, or a co-developer of
a new product—outcomes which benefit both companies, large and
small.
The St. Louis Strategic Alliance Breakfasts are a collaborative
effort of the Missouri Venture Forum, Innovate St. Louis and
the St. Louis RCGA to increase the adoption of local innovation
by encouraging the interaction of emerging and entrepreneurial
local companies with the mature, larger corporate entities.
The invitation-only breakfasts provide local technology CEOs
a soapbox to describe their company and its innovative products
and services. It is not intended as a forum to raise capital,
but rather an opportunity to explore any synergistic outcomes
a strategic alliance or partnership might create, i.e. beta
test site for a new ASP. The intimate breakfast audience is
composed of c-level officers from large local corporations who
may have the same technical or process challenges that the innovators
were intending to solve. Each Breakfast is organized along an
industry focus, starting with IT, Life Sciences, CleanTech and
AgTech.
For applications to participate as an entrepreneur or as a potential
end-user or corporate partner, please contact Jay DeLong at
the St. Louis RCGA at (314) 444-1130.
FRANK STOKES NAMED CEO OF INNOVATE ST.LOUIS
Frank Stokes, retired Monsanto Company executive, civic leader
of the St. Louis region’s Critical Technologies initiative in
the mid-1990s, and a key leader at the St. Louis Regional Chamber
& Growth Association (RCGA) in 1999-2001 in developing the St.
Louis region’s highly successful “BioBelt” plant and medical
sciences industry sector strategy, has been recruited as Chief
Executive Officer of Innovate St. Louis.
Innovate St. Louis Inc. was established as a 501(c)(3) organization
in 2006; chartered by business, civic, university leaders, and
the RCGA, Innovate St. Louis works to enhance the St. Louis
region's entrepreneurial environment and to be a catalyst in
the emergence of the region as a global hub of innovation and
entrepreneurship. Its offices are at the RCGA at One Metropolitan
Square. Innovate St. Louis is an outgrowth of the RCGA's Technology
Gateway Alliance, which was established back in 1998, itself
a successor to the former RCGA Science & Technology Committee.
Innovate St. Louis sponsors multiple activities, which, alone
and in partnership with others, provides unique contributions
to a strong, positive economic and social impact in the region.
RCGA Board member and Board Chair of Innovate St. Louis, Dr.
William Peck, former Dean of the Washington University School
of Medicine, and now director of the University's Center for
Health Policy, led the development of Innovate St. Louis in
his capacity as then-RCGA Board Chair for Technology.
“Frank Stokes has just the right talents, persona and range
of experience. He is extremely intelligent, engaging and enthusiastic
and has been successful in both the private and public sectors.
Our new organization is most fortunate to have Frank as its
Chief Executive,” Peck noted.
The RCGA has committed seed capital funding to Innovate St.
Louis in its initial two years; the balance of the organization's
operating funding is being raised through civic and philanthropic
grants.
“Innovate St. Louis’ core mission—enhancing the entrepreneurial
and innovation environment—strongly complements the RCGA’s overall
regional economic development and deal-specific expansion and
recruitment efforts with individual entrepreneurial firms and
venture capital investors,” noted RCGA President & Chief Executive
Officer Richard C.D. Fleming. “It’s been said that effective
economic development includes both hunting and gardening; Innovate
St. Louis significantly adds to the region’s ability to grow
entrepreneurial companies. Frank Stokes brings splendid expertise
and experience to this civic venture.”
“Continued progress by St. Louis must include a steady flow
of innovations and successful entrepreneurs,” Stokes noted.
“Innovate St. Louis, in collaboration with others, wants to
help accelerate this flow and thus contribute to a sustainable
future for our region.”
Stokes is a graduate of Haverford College in Philadelphia, and
earned his master’s degree in business administration at the
Stanford University Graduate School of Business. A sampling
of his previous board service includes: Chairman of The Nature
Conservancy of Missouri; the American Tort Reform Association
(Washington, D.C.); the national Welfare-to-Work Coalition (Washington,
D.C.); the Missouri Partnership for Outstanding Schools; Forest
Park Forever; the St. Louis Mercantile Library; and Haverford
College Board of Managers.
SITE IMPROVEMENT DONATES $10,000 FOR
CONSTRUCTION CAREERS CENTER “SMART BOARDS”
Officers of the SITE Improvement Association presented a check
for $10,000 for three new interactive SMART Boards for the Construction
Careers Center in St. Louis. The Young Executives of SITE also
presented a check for $1,000 to buy tools for the center. The
Construction Careers Center is a tuition-free high school founded
in 2001 that is designed to prepare St. Louis students for construction
careers.
SITE Improvement Association has 200 contractor and associate
members involved in the preparation and improvement of jobsites
for residential, commercial and heavy highway construction.
AMERICAN WATER EXPANDS ALTON FACILITY
American Water has inked a deal with developer Clark Properties
to expand its national customer service center by nearly 16,000
square feet at the Alton Center Business Park in Alton, Ill.
The deal represents the company’s second major expansion at
the site, with American Water now employing approximately 500
at the center and occupying just over 65,000 square feet.
Located just off the Clark Bridge and Illinois Route 143, the
business park is located on a 153-acre former brownfield site
that was abandoned by the Owens-Illinois Glass Bottle Plant
in 1993. American Water became the park’s first tenant in March
2001.
“Our goal all along was to restore the site as a major center
of Illinois commerce,” states Michael Clark, president of Clark
Properties. “American Water has really been tremendous for the
project and the community, rapidly increasing their employment
to more than 40 percent above their original plans in Alton.
With this expansion and one or two additional new deals, we
will all begin to realize the full potential of this development
project for the city of Alton.”
THE PLAZA IN CLAYTON EARNS PRESTIGIOUS
ENERGY STAR AWARD
The Plaza in Clayton has earned the EPA’s ENERGY STAR rating
for protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency.
The Plaza is one of two office buildings in Missouri that received
the designation for 2006. The facility uses approximately 35
percent less energy than average buildings while still providing
quality service and comfort to occupants, according to CB Richard
Ellis, a commercial real estate firm that manages the Plaza.
“Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our ability
to reduce the cost of energy while reducing the environmental
impact for our clients,” states Mary Ellen Saenz, associate
director at CB Richard Ellis.
To earn the ENERGY STAR, CB Richard Ellis increased the efficiency
of the building’s heating, air conditioning and lighting equipment
and reduced operating hours to achieve a balance between tenant
comfort and energy savings.
